No Baby seat available!
What did you do? (Without taking your own)

Hi, Husband, myself and our two boys (14months and almost 5) are going overseas to the Philippines. There will be no baby seats where we are going and no big name car rentals either. We will be lucky to get a reliable vehicle even. Husband and his whole family have flat out said we are not taking one with us (Due to not much point as there is no anchor points and have just found out there is no guarantees our rental car will have back seat belts)

So have you been in this situation. My friends who have also been are saying, you just need to deal with that how it's done there. I'm finding it hard to get my head around it all. Now I would be more comfortable if it was only short trips, but from the airport to where we stay is almost 2 hours (in minimal traffic)

I'm ok about my almost 5 year old. But how can I get around this for a young bub?

I had thought of trying to find an old school booster (with no back) so it could fit in my luggage and maybe a 5 point harness? But I'm doubtful the age of car we get will have a bolt for it anyway??

Any advice or suggestions???? I'm dreading this holiday already and this is not helping, so after positive suggestions please!!!

No to the booster and add on harness. No anti sub device and the fact that research had 100% used incorrectly, putting child at risk of internal injuries from the belt.

Me I would be trying to get my hands on a EU maxi Cosi Cabriofix capsule and take that. It installs with just seatbelt (lap sash). Suits a child to approx 80cm. Gumtree or eBay sometimes have them advertised (as pram accessory)

I have travelled extensively with kids not in carseats - but in highly urban areas with so much traffic that the max speed (by us or anyone else) is 30-40 kph. This was an acceptable risk for me.

I would balk at 60kph plus, especially if it was on roads where other vehicles (eg trucks, busses) can also so higher speeds. That said, as a child I have travelled on such roads with no restraint (including no seat belts) because that WAS the done thing. Would I do that with my own kids, knowin what I know and having seen what I've seen. Not likely.

(You might also want to find out if, even if you take a seat, there will be anything to attach it to).

This is a good article (yes all 6 pages) to get your DH to read. Babies get 10kgs luggage allowance so that should cover pram and car seat. Never had to pay extra for these for bubs going overseas. Also watching the video links is good too

Please take a seat for bub. My son was unrestrained and in a car accident (car overturned) when he was 6 months old. Amazingly he was uninjured, but both his foster mother and her son, who was driving, were hospitalized for a fortnight. This was in an asian country where child restraints are not mandatory

I was in another country where carseats are not mandatory. It was a nightmare every time we were in a taxi because DS couldn't keep still. He was walking over everybody's knees, grabbing everything, fussing, kicking, etc. Turns out that aside from being a safety feature, being buckled up forces toddlers to sit still and be quiet! If you have a two hour trip it is well worth bringing a carseat - all airlines I've flown had allowances for an infant.

I was in a car ride for 5+ hours with no carseat....Bill Gates couldn't pay me a million bucks for me to repeat that nightmarish experience. Ugh.

Your point about safe and reliable cars is a good one. While I'd follow PPs advice and take a seat or two, (and it won't cost in excess baggage, it should be covered by the children's air tickets) there's a fair chance that:

Your luggage may not fit in a boot, if it includes car seatsYour car seat could be damaged on domestic airlinesThe car/taxis may not have any seat belts at all, esp in the back seat, let alone a TT boltThe car may be overloaded with rellies, who won't take kindly to the baby's car seat taking up one whole space. Some hot headed nephew or cousin may be designated driver, and cautious driving may not be 'his thing.'

We have encountered all this and more in DH's country, before we had kids. So when we made our first trip with DS1, I had the battles long before we went. Part of our planning for the trip included car safety, and part of our budgeting included our own decent car rentals and buying a seat.

In fact, DH went before us, so he could buy a local car seat, sort out our car rental for airport pickup, rent us accommodation close to public transport so we weren't reliant on dodgy taxis etc. This is an ongoing challenge for us. However, DH knows it's non-negotiable that we move heaven and earth to make car travel safe.

We have even got our rehearsed ways of ignoring, or politely & firmly dismissing silly rellies who want us to carry the kids in our laps, so we don't get coerced into doing something we feel uncomfortable about.

One more thing. If you are ever carrying a small child unrestrained, apparently the safest place for them is on the floor between a parents feet. Less chance of them being thrown through the windscreen/out a window or flung wildly about the car in a roll over.

When we travelled around Thailand last year, most cars didn't even have anchor points, so a car seat would have been a pain, and completely useless. They didn't even have adult seatbelts. I can't imagine the Philippines being any different. I just strapped my 18 month old to me in the ergo.

Well worth it. My kids had such a great learning experience, no hesitation in doing it again.

You need to establish if the cars are likely to have seat belts. In Vietnam we had to do several taxi rides with at least a couple of us without belts.

Not much point taking a seat if there aren't any seat belts.

Also most cars won't have anchor points so if you need a seat with a tether strap you probably won't be able to use it.

When we took DD to Vanautu at 6 months none of the cars had car seats and most didn't have seat belts. I usually put her forward facing in the baby bjorn. That was she was 'loose' and I could hold onto the car to keep us stable. I did a similar thing when she was 15 months in UAE with the Bubba Moe sling.

Of course I don't expect it to protect like a car seat, but in the absence of anything that can even begin to strap down an active squimy toddler, it's better than nothing. Because that's my alternative,

And whilst I appreciate the replies from everyone else, it would of been more beneficial if the replies answered my question. I specifically asked for other options to a standard car seat. It is essentially a 3rd world country and it's not reasonable to expect the same conditions to be maintained.Yes my child's safety is very important but I also must be realistic.

I have checked with the car yard where we hire the car and there are some seatbelts but not all in every car and no guarantees!

So you can afford to fly there and back but cannot afford to take car seats? Unless you are going to a country where seatbelts in the back of cars do not exist I am feeling a tad sceptical, I was in a carseat in Zimbabwe in 1980, use a light RF seat with no TT, or a cabriofix, and take the booster linked.

If I had to choose between seeing my own relatives OS or my child's safety I would pick safety everytime, how would you live with youself if there was a crash and your toddler was not restrained?

So you can afford to fly there and back but cannot afford to take car seats? Unless you are going to a country where seatbelts in the back of cars do not exist I am feeling a tad sceptical, I was in a carseat in Zimbabwe in 1980, use a light RF seat with no TT, or a cabriofix, and take the booster linked.

If I had to choose between seeing my own relatives OS or my child's safety I would pick safety everytime, how would you live with youself if there was a crash and your toddler was not restrained?

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